Someone Else
by vivaforever597
Summary: Azula realizes Ty Lee has a crush on Aang - and she's not about to let it go unresolved. Ty Laang / Tyzula friendship.
1. Chapter 1

"Ty Lee!" Azula's voice rang out. "Have you been listening to anything I said?"

"Sorry, Azula," Ty Lee replied, giggling self-consciously. "I was just thinking about someone — something else."

"Someone else, hmm?" Azula murmured curiously. She followed Ty Lee's gaze across the open courtyard to where Aang, Sokka, and Katara were sitting, laughing as they ate their lunches. Her eyes narrowed as they focused on Sokka. "Aren't you ever going to stop lusting after him?" she scolded. "He's already denied you. _It's time to move on!_" she finished, a bit harshly.

"It's not Sokka," Mai said blankly. Azula turned to look at her friend, startled to remember she'd been staring into space. "Haven't you been paying attention?" Mai droned.

"Of course I have!" Azula protested. _When I haven't been plotting my rise to political power_, she thought.

Ty Lee shifted in her seat. "I wasn't really looking at anyone in particular…" she began.

Mai ignored her. "Then you must have noticed Ty Lee staring at Aang," she told Azula.

Azula's eyes sparkled dangerously. "Is that true, Ty Lee?" she asked.

"Um …" Ty Lee murmured, "I guess?"

"Do not guess!" Azula said hotly. "Either you have, or you haven't."

"I … have … looked at him. Yeah," Ty Lee admitted.

Azula looked over to Aang's table, just in time to see Toph and Sokka stand up to take their trays to the garbage. Her eyes narrowed as she considered the situation. "Come along, Ty Lee," she said haughtily. "We're going to see what we can make of this."

"But —" Ty Lee cried.

"No buts! If he doesn't act hospitably toward you, he will _suffer_ the consequences." She turned to Mai. "Are you coming?" she asked, as if she didn't already know the answer.

"No," Mai replied, as terse as ever.

"All right, then," Azula replied, unruffled. "I'll be back in a moment."

"Whatever."

Azula grasped Ty Lee's hand and led her, none too slowly or too gently, across to where Aang sat, finishing his wrap and watching the chickadees flitting around the tree nearest him. Azula dug in her heels to come to an abrupt halt just behind Aang's seat, throwing Ty Lee forward. "Hello, Aang," Azula said sweetly.

Aang turned around and looked up at her, fear coming into his eyes. "Hi, Azula," he said cautiously. "Hi, Ty Lee," he added as she peered at him from behind her friend's back.

"Hi!" she cried nervously.

"Aang," Azula began, "it seems to me that you and Ty Lee ought to know each other better. You should have dinner together. Tomorrow night."

"Well … I suppose," Aang replied, trying to work himself free from Azula's intimidation.

"Good. Then it's settled. I'll leave you to work out the details." Without so much as a goodbye, Azula turned her back on the two and walked off haughtily.

Aang and Ty Lee tried to avoid one another's gazes, Aang tugging absentmindedly at his collar as Ty Lee aimed a smile toward his feet. Finally, she spoke up. "You don't have to if you don't want to," she said sheepishly.

"No! No, it's all right," he assured her. "Should we just meet at … at the noodle place, then?"

"Um?" Ty Lee replied, as if she were distracted. "Oh, yeah, that'd be great!" she beamed. "7:30?"

Aang smiled. "I'll see you then."

"Oh — well, bye!" Ty Lee replied, grinning as she sauntered off.

Aang stayed rooted to the spot, gazing unseeingly in Ty Lee's direction. He wasn't sure if a few seconds or two minutes had passed when a punch landed on his forearm, making him flinch.

"You've got a girlfriend, Twinkletoes!" Toph said loudly, her voice slightly singsong.

"It's only a dinner!" Aang protested as he spun to face her. "_One_ dinner!"

Sokka shrugged as he came up from behind Toph. "I dunno, Aang. It starts with one date. You never know where it'll end up. But I'm sure we can't draw any conclusions yet!" he added hastily as Aang flushed.

"Besides," Toph said as she clapped Aang's shoulder, "the date isn't even the best part."

Aang's eyes widened in alarm. "What is?"

Toph grinned. "Wait till Sugar Queen hears about this!"


	2. Chapter 2

Ty Lee absentmindedly drummed her fingers on the table as she waited for Aang. She wasn't ordinarily given to making such meaningless movements; as an acrobat, she knew intuitively how to make her motions elegant and efficient. But she needed to distract herself. Every few minutes she became convinced anew that Aang wasn't going to arrive, even though it was only just 7:30; she'd arrived nearly a half hour early, against Azula's advice.

* * *

_"Make him wait for _you!_" Azula hissed. "You're doing him a favor."_

_Ty Lee sighed. "I know what I'm doing, Azula. I want to get there first and prepare myself."_

_Azula's eyes widened as a thin smile spread over her face. "Prepare yourself?" she murmured, her voice taking on a prurient tone._

_"Not like that!" Ty Lee said quickly. "I just want to look and act my best."_

_"I still don't like it, Ty Lee," Azula sniffed. "Haven't you heard the phrase 'fashionably late'?"_

_Ty Lee's reply was preempted by an exasperated sigh from Mai in the corner of the room. _I'd almost forgotten she was there_, Ty Lee realized. "My God, Azula," Mai murmured boredly. "You've never even been on a real date."_

_"I saw Chan!" Azula argued hotly._

_Mai rolled her eyes. "For five minutes at a party, before you frightened him off."_

_Azula huffed. "He wasn't worthy of my company."_

_It was at that moment that Ty Lee realized she'd completely lost control of the conversation and turned back to the mirror, intently brushing her hair._

* * *

She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present moment. It was 7:34, and Aang still wasn't there... She sighed. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all.

What she didn't realize was that just then, Aang was practically sprinting toward the restaurant. "Why did I miss the bus?" a voice in his head wailed for the umpteenth time. "Because Sokka kept holding me up," he answered himself aloud.

* * *

_"I dunno, Aang," Sokka said. "I think the red might go better."_

_"Sokka! I just changed into the green one," Aang protested, pulling at his shirt with two fingertips._

_Sokka shrugged. "Your date, buddy," he said nonchalantly, drawing a groan of exasperation from Aang. But before he could protest Sokka's passive-aggressive outfit suggestions, Katara entered, her arms folded across her chest._

_"I'm really not sure this is a good idea, Aang," she said. "You know Azula is constantly trying to humiliate you. This could be another scheme she dreamed up."_

_Sokka turned to his sister with a patronizing smile. "Katara," he said, "it's a date at Narook's. He'll be fine."_

_"I still don't like it," Katara replied with a shake of her head. "But I can see that I'm not going to get anywhere." She looked Aang in the eyes. "I want you to be careful. Call us from the restaurant."_

_"I'm not a little kid, Katara!" he protested. _She's only trying to help_, he thought. But he had to act on his own feelings — even if he couldn't help feeling sorry for her when he saw her hurt expression._

_Sokka, on the other hand, was apparently unmoved by his sister's emotions. "Yeah, yeah," he said dismissively. "But Aang, which shirt _are_ you gonna wear? First date, gotta make a good impression! Like I said, I really think the red —" Now it was Katara's turn to groan, as she spun on her heel and left the two boys to their own devices._

* * *

Aang's footfalls echoed as he halted in front of the restaurant door. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his short, shaggy-edged hair before pushing the door open. His eyes lit on Ty Lee even before the hostess could greet him. She met his gaze almost immediately and stood up from her seat in the booth, reaching toward the floor as if to tie a shoe. But she quickly straightened up and beamed at him. He returned the smile and gave a happy wave as he approached.

"Hi!" she chirped.

"Hi," Aang echoed as he blushed. He glanced down at her feet to see her shoelaces, only to find she was wearing slip-on flats. "Um, why'd you bend over when you saw me?" he asked. "Are you hurt, or... ?"

"Oh, no," Ty Lee said with a self-conscious giggle. "I was going to flip over to you, but then I thought the other people would think I was a freak." She smiled sheepishly to hide her actual annoyance at having to hide her personality.

Aang laughed. "I'm not laughing _at_ you," he explained hastily, not wanting to hurt her feelings the way he'd hurt Katara's. "I just thought it was cute." Ty Lee smiled winningly. _He doesn't think I'm weird!_ she thought joyfully. "Shall we have a seat?" Aang said, gesturing to the now-empty booth. As they slid into their respective seats, he studied her face closely for the first time. She really was cute, he realized.

"Sorry," Ty Lee said, breaking into his thoughts, "this is my first time going out. With a boy, I mean. Or a girl, except for Mai and Azula, and they don't really count 'cause I never got to talk much, and Mai never talked at all, and... I just want it to be nice."

"It's okay!" Aang reassured her. "It's my first time out, too."

Ty Lee's eyes grew even bigger than they usually were. "Really? Wow!" She looked at him and shuddered with pleasure. He was even better-looking up close, and his green top suited him so well. She sighed internally. It could be a beginning. She hoped it was. Or it could be a one-off, a singular event. But either way, she was going to enjoy it as much as she could.


End file.
